Remote Control for HUZZAH ESP8266 + RF433Mhz transmitter – Home Assistant + ESPHome

This articles demonstrates a configuration for use with ESPHome and a HUZZAH ESP8266 board that can be used to send commands using RF433Mhz as well as a IR blaster.

Hardware used:

• HUZZAH ESP8266 Breakout board (underutilised here but at the time I had a few of these laying around from a previous project)
• M5Stack RF UNIT*
• M5Stack IR Blaster UNIT*
• Energenie 4x socket extension (this is what we are automating)

* Note that doesn’t have to be a M5Stack unit specially; but you can often find them very cheap and they are enclosed.

Wiring summary

RF 433Mhz

Connect the M5Stack RF UNIT to the HUZZAH ESP8266 as follows:

1. VCC of the RF UNIT to the 3V3 pin on the HUZZAH
2. GND of the RF UNIT to GND on the HUZZAH
3. DATA (or TX) of the RF UNIT to a GPIO pin (GPIO2 used in this configuration) on the HUZZAH board

IR Blaster

Connect the M5Stack Ir Blaster UNIT to the HUZZAH ESP8266 as follows:

1. VCC of the Ir UNIT to the 3V3 pin on the HUZZAH
2. GND of the Ir UNIT to GND on the HUZZAH
3. TX of the Ir UNIT to a GPIO pin (GPIO4 used in this configuration) on the HUZZAH board
4. RX of the Ir UNIT to a GPIO pin (GPIO5 used in this configuration) on the HUZZAH board

Note: you can wire both the RF and IR units to the same 3v3 and ground pins; however this assumes that both units are not intended for use at the same time otherwise you may require additional power. As this is intended as a remote; this is unlikely.

Customisation

In the configuration you will need to change/provide values for:

• Device name, replace <device-name>
• Secret: api_key
• Secret: ota_password
• Secret: wifi_ssid
• Secret: wifi_password
• Secret: ap_password

Preparations for flashing

Compile with ESPHome and the initial deployment will require flashing with a TTL cable rough guide below.

Connect the TTL cable to the Huzzah:

• GND to GND
• TX to RX
• RX to TX
• VCC to 3.3V (if needed)

Flashing the firmware

Put the ESP8266 in to flash mode

• Press and hold GPIO0 button
• Press and release RESET button
• Release GPIO0 button to enter flash mode

Identify the TTL device

Typically dev/ttyACM0 or sometimes /dev/ttyUSB0

ls /dev/tty*

Accessing a tty device may require additional permissions add with (check this appropriate before blindly running):

sudo usermod -a -G dialout $USER

Flash with esptool.py

For example, note the HUZZAH ESP8266 flash size is 4MB:

esptool.py --port /dev/ttyACM0 --baud 115200 write_flash -fm dio -fs 4MB 0x0 /path/yo/your/firmware.bin

YAML Source

substitutions:
  id: 
  name: 
  friendly_name:  Remote
  rf_transmit_pin: GPIO2
  ir_transmit_pin: GPIO4
  ir_receive_pin: GPIO5

esphome:
  project:
    name: "oddineers.remotes"
    version: "0.2.0"
  name: ${name}
  friendly_name: ${friendly_name}

esp8266:
  board: huzzah

# Enable logging
logger:
  # Debug require here to view RF receiver codes in logs.
  level: DEBUG

# Enable Home Assistant API
api:
  encryption:
    key: !secret api_key

ota:
  - platform: esphome
    password: !secret ota_password

wifi:
  ssid: !secret wifi_ssid
  password: !secret wifi_password
  # If you don't use .local for your IOT devices change that here
  #domain: .local

  # Enable fallback hotspot (captive portal) in case wifi connection fails
  ap:
    ssid: " Fallback Hotspot"
    password: !secret ap_password

captive_portal:

remote_transmitter:
  - id: rf_mod_tx
    pin: ${rf_transmit_pin}
    carrier_duty_percent: 100%
  - id: ir_mod_tx
    pin: ${ir_transmit_pin}
    carrier_duty_percent: 50%

remote_receiver:
  - id: ir_mod_rx
    pin:
      number: ${ir_receive_pin}
      inverted: true
    dump: all
    buffer_size: 2kb

switch:
  - platform: template
    name: "Energenie Combined Socket 3+4"
    optimistic: true
    assumed_state: true
    restore_mode: DISABLED
    turn_on_action:
      - switch.turn_on: ES0x78b2d_3
      #- delay: 400ms
      - switch.turn_on: ES0x78b2d_4
    turn_off_action:
      - switch.turn_off: ES0x78b2d_3
      #- delay: 400ms
      - switch.turn_off: ES0x78b2d_4
  - platform: template
    id: ES0x78b2d_1
    name: 'Energenie Socket 0x78b2d_1'
    optimistic: true
    assumed_state: true
    restore_mode: DISABLED
    turn_on_action:
      - remote_transmitter.transmit_rc_switch_raw:
          transmitter_id: rf_mod_tx
          code: '111100010110010110111110'
          protocol:
            pulse_length: 200
            sync: [1,3]
          repeat: 5
    turn_off_action:
      - remote_transmitter.transmit_rc_switch_raw:
          transmitter_id: rf_mod_tx
          code: '111100010110010110111100'
          protocol:
            pulse_length: 200
            sync: [1,3]
          repeat: 5
  - platform: template
    id: ES0x78b2d_2
    name: 'Energenie Socket 0x78b2d_2'
    optimistic: true
    assumed_state: true
    restore_mode: DISABLED
    turn_on_action:
      - remote_transmitter.transmit_rc_switch_raw:
          transmitter_id: rf_mod_tx
          code: '111100010110010110101110'
          protocol:
            pulse_length: 200
            sync: [1,3]
          repeat: 5
    turn_off_action:
      - remote_transmitter.transmit_rc_switch_raw:
          transmitter_id: rf_mod_tx
          code: '111100010110010110101100'
          protocol:
            pulse_length: 200
            sync: [1,3]
          repeat: 5
  - platform: template
    id: ES0x78b2d_3
    name: 'Energenie Socket 0x78b2d_3'
    optimistic: true
    assumed_state: true
    restore_mode: DISABLED
    turn_on_action:
      - remote_transmitter.transmit_rc_switch_raw:
          transmitter_id: rf_mod_tx
          code: '111100010110010110110110'
          protocol:
            pulse_length: 200
            sync: [1,3]
          repeat: 5
    turn_off_action:
      - remote_transmitter.transmit_rc_switch_raw:
          transmitter_id: rf_mod_tx
          code: '111100010110010110110100'
          protocol:
            pulse_length: 200
            sync: [1,3]
          repeat: 5
  - platform: template
    id: ES0x78b2d_4
    name: 'Energenie Socket 0x78b2d_4'
    optimistic: true
    assumed_state: true
    restore_mode: DISABLED
    turn_on_action:
      - remote_transmitter.transmit_rc_switch_raw:
          transmitter_id: rf_mod_tx
          code: '111100010110010110100110'
          protocol:
            pulse_length: 200
            sync: [1,3]
          repeat: 5
    turn_off_action:
      - remote_transmitter.transmit_rc_switch_raw:
          transmitter_id: rf_mod_tx
          code: '111100010110010110100100'
          protocol:
            pulse_length: 200
            sync: [1,3]
          repeat: 5
  - platform: template
    id: ES0x78b2d_5
    name: 'Energenie Socket 0x78b2d_5 (All)'
    optimistic: true
    assumed_state: true
    restore_mode: DISABLED
    turn_on_action:
      - remote_transmitter.transmit_rc_switch_raw:
          transmitter_id: rf_mod_tx
          code: '111100000101100111000110'
          protocol:
            pulse_length: 200
            sync: [1,3]
          repeat: 5
    turn_off_action:
      - remote_transmitter.transmit_rc_switch_raw:
          transmitter_id: rf_mod_tx
          code: '111100000101100111000100'
          protocol:
            pulse_length: 200
            sync: [1,3]
          repeat: 5

button:
  - platform: restart
    name: ${friendly_name} + " Restart"
  - platform: template
    name: Example IR Remote Power Button
    on_press:
      - remote_transmitter.transmit_pronto:
          transmitter_id: ir_mod_tx
          data: ""